She took a step, broke into a run, and hugged me.
Curran shook his head.
I stuck my tongue out at him. Whatever. She was alive. I would deal with everything else as it came.
“You can never tell anyone,” Curran said. “What Kate has done for you can’t be done to anyone else, do you understand? The Pack is full of desperate parents whose kids might go loup. You can’t go around telling people that Kate cured you of it. If anybody asks, you pulled through on your own. Your magic was so strong, your body rejected Lyc-V. Julie, answer me.”
“Yes, sir,” Julie said in my arms. “I pulled through on my own.”
A knock sounded and Barabas stepped back into the room, carrying a narrow blue vase filled with flowers. “Happy reunion. Also, these came for you, Kate. I put them in a vase. Not quite sure what these flowers are, but they smell divine.”
The vase held a dozen small flowers, their petals pristine white, like small stars solid black at the center. I froze with Julie still hugging me.
Morgan’s Bells. I knew these flowers; I had made them. They’d sprouted during the flare on the spot where I’d cried my eyes out, holding Bran’s lifeless body.
Next to me Curran was very still.
I willed my mouth to move. “Is there a card?”
Barabas nodded and passed me a small white rectangle folded in half. I flipped it open.
Congratulations on your victory, Your Highness. Looking forward to our next meeting. Hugh COMING DECEMBER 2011
FROM ACE BOOKS
FATE’S EDGE
BY ILONA ANDREWS
The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where magic is a fairy tale, and the Weird, where the strength of your magic can change your destiny.
Audrey Callahan may come from a family of thieves and con men, but she left that life in the Edge behind and has gone straight with a legitimate—and thoroughly unmagical—job in the Broken. Then her brother gets in trouble, and her father cajoles her into helping out on one last heist.
But Audrey is about to meet her match in Kaldar Mar, an Edger who has been on the wrong side of the law himself. Kaldar, a sometimes gambler, lawyer, thief, and spy with some unusual talents of his own, is assigned to track down a stolen item . . . and the trail leads him to Audrey.
Forced to work together, Kaldar and Audrey discover that the missing item has made its way into the hands of a dangerous criminal organization—one they will have to outsmart if they want to live . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian, and Andrew is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Andrew was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Andrew is still sore about that.) Together, Andrew and Ilona are the coauthors of the New York Times bestselling Kate Daniels urban fantasy series and the romantic urban fantasy novels of the Edge.
They currently reside in Portland, Oregon, with their two children and numerous pets. For sample chapters, news, and more, visit www.ilona-andrews.com.